


Best Present Ever!

by SassySarah



Category: Avengers, Captain America (Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Civil War? What Civil War?, F/M, First work - Freeform, No Timeline, Silly, Soulmarks, bit of world-building, comes with an explanation for the soulmates thing, first words your soulmate says, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 17:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5674315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SassySarah/pseuds/SassySarah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy was pretty sure that the world could not get any weirder.  Like, life’s weirdness was already maxed out for her, thank you very much.  Literal gods falling from the sky, traveling with Jane, aliens, more traveling, more aliens, evil fucking robots, and then going to work at the Tower. Darcy liked to think she had a nice ‘roll-with-it’ attitude.  And really, by this point, what else could life throw at her?</p><p>She should have known better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best Present Ever!

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first fic I've written and actually finished and posted, in like 7 years. It's been a while. I have one or two other silly ideas for the "first words" soulmates thing, so if anyone wants to volunteer to beta, feel free! Anyway, hopefully it's not awful and you all like it! Also, Darcy/Steve gives me life <3

Best Present Ever

 

Darcy was pretty sure that the world could not get any weirder. Like, life’s weirdness was already maxed out for her, thank you very much. Literal gods falling from the sky, traveling with Jane, aliens, more traveling, more aliens, evil fucking robots, and then going to work at the Tower. Darcy liked to think she had a nice ‘roll-with-it’ attitude. And really, by this point, what else could life throw at her?

She should have known better.

——

Jane had finally made her rainbow road, and the world was chaos. Darcy frequently caught her muttering to herself now about how her calculations had been perfect, and it had worked, and how could she predict such an unprecedented occurrence? The night had been a success, for sure, and no one could deny that. Her bridge had worked, Thor had come, and Darcy would never forget the way all the stars in the sky had looked like they were about to fall on them before the column of light had pulled itself together. 

So Jane had successfully created her Einstein-Rosen Bridge. She had also, undeniably, caused a world-wide phenomenon. On people everywhere, words had appeared. It didn’t matter where you were on Earth - if you were alive, you had words on your skin. Some people had multiple lines, some people had words in languages they didn’t speak, and the size, style, and placement seemed to have no rhyme or reason. At first, the only consensus that could be reached was that the words had appeared at the precise moment the bridge was created. Newborns born after that time came out with words, which seemed to imply that the words were just going to be a part of human life from now on, and the world was freaking out. It was totally Jane’s fault and Darcy loved it.

Or rather, she had loved it. Until Thor was informed of the situation and had promptly offered what was, in Darcy’s initial opinion, an incredibly terrifying explanation. It was simple, he said. This was his mother’s magic. It was a spell, everlasting. Long ago on Asgard, it was commonly used to ensure good matches so that marriages lasted. It had fallen out of common practice due to the results not always being romantic, or not being what the person or family had hoped for, but the matches were always respected. The words were the first that your best match, your soulmate, would say to you. At first, he was unsure as to why, how, or when his mother had done this, and he could no longer ask her. After seeing his words in Allspeak on his beloved Jane, however, he knew. His mother had cast the spell to ensure that the Allfather could not oppose his wish to marry Jane. He was unsure whether his mother had meant the spell for just Jane and the bridge had somehow amplified it, or if she had meant it for all humans from the start. He did not think it mattered. However it had happened, it was done.

Naturally, when Thor’s explanation was put out to the public there were mixed reactions. Months later, when Darcy had personally calmed down about the whole thing, large parts of the rest of the world had not. She knew better than to think it’d be solved in a year, or two even. The human species had undergone an irreversible shift, and it’d be generations before it straightened itself out. Society would irrevocably change, it already had, but it’d take a while for people to catch up. And really, when she thought about it, it was pretty cool that she’d be in history books and biographies - even just mentioned - hundreds of years in the future because she worked with Jane and Jane was being blamed for the whole thing.

Like many, Darcy wasn’t quite sure what to make of her words. She had one set, like Jane. Thor said they could be platonic or romantic, that it was up to her and her soulmate. She still didn’t know where she stood with the whole free will versus destiny debate, but she figured she could give the whole ‘best match’ thing a chance. Why not, right?

She wasn’t disappointed.

——

Roughly seven months after “Rainbow Road/Worldwide Words Day”, as Darcy was calling it, she discovered first-hand the feeling of someone unknowingly saying the words written on her skin. It was a unique experience. 

Jane was stuck on something and it was late. Tomorrow was her birthday and Darcy had plans for celebrating, so she was quickly losing her patience with her scientist. With the clock creeping ever closer to midnight, Darcy decided to call it a night, with or without Jane. She wasn’t working on anything explosive, and who knows? Maybe when she looked up and noticed Darcy was gone, she’d remember that they were supposed to have plans for tomorrow and go to bed. Probably not, but she’d make it up to her later, Darcy knew.

Darcy slid her shoes back on, heels flattening the backs of her converse, and grabbed her bag for the short elevator ride up to Jane’s, which was technically Thor’s, but he was currently in Asgard right now and really, it was filled with Jane’s crap, so it was hers. Darcy had taken it upon herself to claim the spare room as her own, so as to avoid having to pay rent and any kind of commute. Though she did have to be careful when entering the apartment when Thor was on Earth (lest she get an eyeful), the money she was saving more than made up for it.

Tossing Jane one last look and a goodnight that wasn’t acknowledged, she stepped into the hall and made her way to the bank of elevators, barely remembering to head to the one on the far right. It was the only elevator on this floor that led up to the residential floors, and at this hour, Darcy didn’t give a thought to other people possibly being around. Which is why she was understandably surprised to come out of the elevator to two men, apparently wrestling. As the elevator doors closed behind her, it caught the attention of one of the men, the blonde one, and after one glance at Darcy he was shoving off the dark-haired one with way too much ease and standing with an embarrassed huff, running his hand through his hair.

“Uh, hi. We, uh, weren’t expecting anyone. Sorry if we disturbed you.” 

Darcy stared for a moment, as the dark-haired man got to his feet and clapped a sticky ribbon bow to the blonde’s shoulder, who gave him a dirty look but was apparently unwilling to fight it in front of her. She was pretty sure she was looking at Steven Rogers, AKA Captain Fucking America, and his best friend Bucky Barnes, AKA the reformed Winter Soldier assassin. And Steven Rogers, Captain Fucking America, had just said the words curled over her ribs and down her left hip. And this was so not platonic.

“Wow, so I hit the soulmate jackpot, oh my god. Best Present Ever!”

Bucky laughed and looked between the two, happy. “See punk, the bow worked.” He clapped Steve on the shoulder once more, then started walking towards the door at the far end of the hall. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t!”

Steve started forward a bit, held out his hand. “I’m Steve. It’s really nice to meet you. And uh, Happy Birthday I guess?

Darcy took his hand, both seeming to exhale at little at the contact. “Hi Steve, I’m Darcy. And yes, happy birthday to me.” Slowly she pulled her hand away from his, reaching up to his shoulder where the crinkled bow sat. “The bow?”

Steve seemed to flush a little, glancing at her hand, still on his shoulder, one finger nudged into the mess of ribbon. “Uh, Bucky’s idea. Said presents need bows. That’s why we were, uh, how you found us earlier. He’s been doing it for months. Got a little annoying.”

“Aw, no, I’m sorry!” Darcy was trying not to laugh, biting back her smile. She felt bad for him, but it was too cute.

One of Steve’s hands came to toy with the end of her scarf. “It’s alright.” He smiled. “So Darcy, do you have any birthday plans?”

Darcy smiled back and said, “As a matter of fact, Steve, my plans just opened up.”


End file.
